Not judged by his cover, book 'scam' regains trove

By
With Analysis From Monitor Correspondents Around The World,
Edited By Clara Germani /
October 5, 1981

New York

US customs agents, in an undercover operation using a rare-book dealer protected by a bulletproof vest, recovered part of a $2 million antique book collection stolen in London, a Customs Service spokesman said.

John Papanastassiou, a Greek-born Columbia University economics student, was arrestes after the dealer handed him $11,000 for four books, including a 1938 edition of Galileo's "Discorsi." The books vanished last summer from the University College library in London